Eastside organization aims to increase civic involvement

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, September 23, 2002

BELLEVUE -- The questions will be stark and provocative, especially for a morning workshop.

How can parents better communicate with school and elected officials? What causes some parents to be uninvolved in their child's education?

And how can cultural diversity become an integral part of education?

Saturday, organizers of the Eastside's new Institute for Community Involvement will discuss these and similar questions. They hope to raise awareness about civic life and inform participants about the services Eastside governments and schools provide.

As part of the institute's first workshop, they want to reach individuals -- ranging from longtime residents to new immigrants -- who feel uncomfortable about participating in public affairs.

"It's really about giving more voice," said Nadine Shiroma, the institute's co-founder and chairwoman of Eastside Asian Pacific Islanders.

"How do you advocate? How do you serve on boards and commissions?" she asked. "For many people, it's a mystery. It's to take the mystery out of it."

The idea has been in the works for years, but it crystallized after organizers participated in the drawing of new lines for voting districts.

More residents from ethnic and economic backgrounds need to participate in the community, they thought.

Doreen Cato from Bellevue had an idea: "We can do better. We can rethink how to get others involved.

"It's about organizations that are already out there and tapping into groups that are difficult to reach," said Cato, who is active in Sisters on the Eastside.

The women's group helped found the institute.

After Saturday's workshop, which will focus on education, the opinions will be given to teachers, boards of education and cities, such as Bellevue.

To help people who cannot speak English, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese interpreters will be on hand at the meeting.

In the future, the non-partisan institute hopes to work with other civic organizations, such as business, voting rights, refugee, youth and leadership groups.

Although organizers are starting the institute based on community experience, census data also illustrate how the Eastside has changed.

In Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond, for example, 21 percent of all residents were born outside the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the Bellevue School District, students speak 61 languages, including Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese and Korean. About 3,300 students speak a second language, according to the district.

Mary Wirta, a Redmond resident, will attend Saturday's workshop to give people support. Last year, she started Eastside Empowerment Group, a community organization aimed at helping new and longtime residents.

"We're trying to help people of diverse cultural backgrounds," she said.

"We're trying to help them plug into the American system."

And even new residents from other parts of the state can be unfamiliar with Eastside issues, and this is one way for them to get involved, she said.

Wang Yung, an Eastgate resident, hopes the institute can augment other organizations.

"It's just another way to be more informed about how we, as a community, can get involved," said Yung, who is active in the Asian American community.

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Shiroma became involved in community affairs after a school district superintendent asked her to join a committee and to give her opinions.

"That experience told me that people respond when they know that someone wants to hear from them," she said.